RBS Heritage Museum

“History is not just about what we were before, but who we are now.”
— Ken Burns, filmmaker

Dare to Dream . . . Brick by Brick

How it all started . . .

In the late fall of 2010, Vision 2020 was presented with the opportunity to purchase one of the few historic properties in our downtown area. The seller and Vision 2020 shared a common dream to develop a museum honoring the history and culture of the town.

The bank building was listed on The National Register of Historic Places in the fall of 2013. “The National Register is a list of properties significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture – a comprehensive index of the significant physical evidences of our national patrimony. Properties listed thereon deserve to be preserved by their owners as a part of the cultural heritage of our nation.”

Phase One (Dare to Dream): complete the purchase of the property.

We are so thankful for the support of so many individuals and local businesses. Because of your generosity the purchase of the bank property was complete in September 2012! Now on to restoring the property —

Phase Two (Brick by Brick): restoring the historic property.

We are working the MTSU Historic Preservation group and the TN Downtowns Program to do those things that will preserve the history of the building and restore it to its splendor for the 1920s and 1930s. If you have experience in historic restoration please contact our Design Chair, Richard Eadler.

Have you noticed how beautiful the exterior of the Future Red Boiling Springs Heritage Museum looks? Mark Evans Masonry spent nine months re-pointing the entire exterior brick and dedicated volunteers hunted down and prepared historic brick to replaced the damaged East side. You can help support this project by becoming a ” Brick Benefactor”. Your $20.00 donation to the Brick by Brick campaign will reserve a 20-brick-square on the exterior walls in your name or “in memory of” someone you would like to honor. In addition, a plaque will be displayed inside the building recognizing all Brick Benefactors.

Start looking for those items in your attic and barns that were part of Red Boiling Springs historic past. Bobby Knight and Randy East have taken the task of gathering and organizing this information, We want to start now to find and catalog these items as we do our restoration and plan for the look of the museum. Get those family histories recorded (one way or the other) so that we have those memories to be a part of the town’s heritage museum. Keep in touch. We will be calling on you one day.

You Can Be a Part of Making this Dream a Reality!!

You can help us raise funds to help with the restoration efforts with a donation made payable to Vision 2020 Inc and mail it to 2163 Oak Grove Road, Red Boiling Springs TN 37150. Vision 2020 Inc is a 501c3; therefore, your donation is tax-deductible.

Other ways to support this project: Volunteer labor is always appreciated!

Online donations to help repair and restore the windows and doors can be made through https://www.gofundme.com/rbsdoors-and-windows . You can make a one time donation or even a monthly donation through this site. It is our goal to replace the broken glass with the same period wavy glass or a modern replica if we can’t find old glass. This is an expensive project, the glass is not cheap and some of the frames and frame work will have to be totally rebuilt, but it will be worth it.

Purchase copies of “Simple Pleasures”. A history of the hey-day of Red Boiling Springs, when she was a lively resort town, is a pleasant read and more than worth the $8 price tag. Buy one for yourself and more as gifts. Every dollar from the sale of these books go into our museum fund. They are available for purchase at: Armour’s Hotel, Grandpa’s House, the Red Boiling Springs and main branch of Macon Bank and Trust, the Chamber of Commerce office in Lafayette and the Step Back in Time Gift Shop at 252 Main St in Red Boiling Springs.

While doing your online shopping support the Heritage Museum:
If you use the link below Amazon will make a donation to the RBS Heritage Museum.